This invention relates generally to a system and method for communicating electronic data, and in particular to a system and method for communicating electronic data in which a portable electronic device transmits data over a telephone line to a central message distribution system. The system may also communicate electronic data using either a one-way communications protocol or a two-way communications protocol and the portable device may receive data from several different sources.
Prior to the proliferation of computers, people communicated store-and-forward style messages (i.e., messages that are first stored in some manner and then later forwarded) using facsimile machines and direct computer-to-computer data connections over existing and leased telephone lines. As computers became cheaper and easier to use, people began using more advanced facsimile machines, computer facsimile modems, and direct computer-to-computer modem connections to transfer information between each other.
More recently, people began to use commercial on-line services to communicate large amounts of store-and-forward style information (i.e., electronic mail) with each other. Now, a new medium for communicating, the Internet, is attaining general public popularity. In the last five years, the number of people connected to the Internet has increased because the Internet allows users who have an Internet account, a modem, and a computer to communicate great amounts of information with each other, regardless of each party's method of accessing the Internet or the geographic location of their Internet access point, at minimal expense. For example, for the cost of a local telephone call, a person in California can send a long electronic mail (e-mail) message to a friend (who also must have Internet access) anywhere in the world. Due in large part to the Internet, the popularity of electronic store-and-forward messaging, such as e-mail, has increased exponentially.
Initially, due to the large size of computers, people typically only accessed the Internet from a desktop computer. Later, as the size and weight of computers decreased from desktops to notebooks to palmtops, people may carry their computer with them wherever they go and access their e-mail account from any location where they could locate a telephone jack to connect, via modem, to the Internet.
At the same time that e-mail was increasing in popularity, paging technology was also increasing in popularity. Many people carry pagers to ensure that others can easily reach them at any time. In addition, a new product category of portable computer, known as a personal digital assistant (PDA) was introduced. The PDA's are basically very small handheld computers (several of which offer limited messaging capabilities, such as paging or e-mail) that are priced too high (i.e., in excess of $500) for purchase by the average consumer and do not offer communication features well-tailored to the average consumer user's needs.
Today, a number of PDA's are on the market. One well-known PDA has a small touch-sensitive screen controlled by special user-interface software. This PDA also has a modem that allows a user to communicate with a computer network and to send e-mail messages, facsimiles, and pager messages. This PDA and its accessories, however, are very expensive, and require that the user locate a phone jack for message transmission and reception. In these well known current PDA systems on the market today, all messages are transmitted and received over the same communications link, which requires an expensive modem and extensive handshaking time between the modem in the PDA and the modem to which the PDA is connected.
A second well known PDA is a cellular telephone with a touch-sensitive backlit display that acts as a keyboard. This second PDA has the ability to send facsimiles, to communicate with commercial on-line services, and to manage a user's schedule with a built-in time management system. This second PDA, however, is also very expensive and too large and heavy to carry around in a user's pocket. In addition, due to this PDA's circuit-switched communications, costs can be very high because it can only communicate over more expensive cellular telephone systems, rather than using less expensive landline telephones and short-burst packet data transmission protocol. In addition, because this PDA relies solely on cellular communications, it has relatively high power consumption, which leads to a very short battery life.
All of the known messaging systems that allow a user to both send and receive multiple types of electronic messages (i.e., facsimile, pager and e-mail) are too large, too expensive, too inconvenient (i.e., they require telephone connectivity through an RJ-11 telephone jack) or drain a battery too quickly. In addition, these known systems cannot send a message reliably over a normal public pay telephone line or many cellular links due to occasional line noise problems that cannot be corrected by known systems, and due to a lack of more convenient (i.e. appropriate acoustic) telephony coupling technology. In addition, none of these known systems provide an inexpensive way to send different types of messages and also provide the user with an audible acknowledgment signal from the receiving computer indicating whether or not the message is sent correctly. These known systems also do not offer two different communications protocols to communicate data or two different systems for receiving messages.
Thus, there is a need for an electronic messaging system that is inexpensive and transmits various types of electronic messages over any type of communications link. There is also a need for an electronic messaging system that has a system for sending an audible acknowledgment signal back to the user and a system for performing multiple levels of error detection and correction. Therefore, there is a need for an electronic messaging system and method that transmits electronic data to a central server over a telephone line and which avoids these and other problems of conventional messaging system and methods, and it is to this end that the invention is directed.